Yarn Alert!

Becky alerted me to this deal:

Amazon has TLC yarns for only $0.69 per skein through Joann's Amazon store. Shipping for under $20 is only $6.95, and for only a dollar more you can spend up to $39.99! And my Michigan tax was only a few bucks, so my price-per-skein was still less than a dollar ~ The same yarns were $3.69 and up at Joann's site. And I figure with three of us gals in the house learning to knit and or crochet, I may as well stock up when the price is right. Plus, I think some of the "baby" yarns might make very nice socks!

Of course, I didn't figure in the cost of building a new room to store all the skeins I bought.

***Yoinks!*** Update ~
(Sunday evening) They are now all listed at $3.00! I guess it wasn't supposed to be so great a deal. I hope they honor it!

Fooled You! One Day Early!

Ha Ha!

What's the best way to pull off an April Fool's gag? Do it the last day of March!

Okay, actually, I'm not sure I fooled anyone. Whenever the children are shooed out of the kitchen they know something's up. And obviously some of them remembered our first annual April Fool's Dinner, last year.

This year it was cake for dinner:

It's a two-layer meatloaf baked in round pans, frosted with fat-free refried beans and decorated with colored shredded parmesan sprinkles and piped spring green sour cream.

I will say that the bean frosting and hot 'cakes' were pretty slippery, it started sliding before I served it and was slid into quite a mess by the end of the cutting and serving. But the children all agreed it tasted good, there was less complaining from the potato haters than last year's mashed potato frosting.

And you know it's a special day when you get dessert around here:

The giant hot dog cake is courtesy of Family Fun's April Fool's Pranks ... as were the fake fries. I did not use the cake's fries because I couldn't find a pound cake, and used a purchase strawberry jelly roll cake as the bun, instead.

And, although they're not pictured, there were vegetables served with dinner. No, really.

Giving credit where credit is due, I never would've thought of this had not Katie introduced me to the idea last year. Maybe since this is my 2nd year I could take credit myself, but really, I thought of Katie the whole time. Thanks again, Katie. You sure are fun! And from you I'm learning that even I can afford to be fun once a year.

And by blogging it tonight, I've left you time for a late-night-run to the grocery store, so you, too, can prank your children! Quick, get them tucked in and make your plans!

Super Powers

My friend Christina recently asked what Super Powers we would have, if we could have Super Powers.

Of course, "super" is all relative. I'm sure that some of our devices in the United States might seem like Super Powers to primitive tribes in South America. Don't say devices don't make you super, because that's really all Batman had. But back to the being relative thing ...

Once I realized that, I realized I *do* have some "super" powers, at least among my children.

Apparently a few of them are:

- being able to see toys on the floor, which are invisible to everyone else.
- being able to remember to brush my teeth.
- being able to get all of my teeth when I do brush them, rendering them shiny and clean and minty fresh.
- seeing crumbs on the table, much less plates
- seeing socks on the floor

I'm sure there are others.

Is Sarcasm a Super Power? Boy, do I hope so.

I'm so relieved ...

I'm so relieved to find that I wasn't the author of one of the papers on this page.

Because, you know, I could've been.

Maybe my teachers burned my "more creative" work. I can only hope.

Get Out The Math Tiles!

One thing my little boys love to do is get out the math shape tiles.

I have a bucket from Nasco of Plastic Pattern Blocks that we got, long ago.

Yesterday, for the severalth day in a row, they boys wanted the math tiles out.

Do you think they are learning all kinds of good mathematical concepts using the tiles to make Bionicle Adventures?

Here's the primary builders - note how in this picture the Visorak "caughted the disc in his claw!":

Is this how math works in other homeschooled homes?

Because I can't post my real post ...

I took pictures for a real post today.

But I realized after I imported them, and after I put everyone down for quiet time (well, sent the older ones) that I didn't write down the names of the *things* that I needed for the pictures.

So you'll have to wait.

In the meantime, here are some space filling rambles:

1.) my friend Nicole (Hi Nicole!) reminded me that I still haven't really read or blogged about the Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe. And that's because A.) the book will make me cry and B.) I really do believe some of them, so I feel overwhelmed thinking about someone trying to convince me otherwise.

2.) The Pit Book - remember those posts? I'm too lazy to hunt them down now. But the short story is, I still think highly of the book, but I haven't gotten out of my pit yet. Partly because I'm no longer doing what she suggested. Not that I don't agree with her approach, I think it's solid and Biblical. But I grew weary and let that turn to defeat. I feel like I'm the one who's not going to ever get out, and in the end I'll have no one to blame but myself.

3.) Here's some good news! After over FIVE YEARS of having our living room and family room windows painted shut, I got the two opening ones (the others aren't made to open) OPEN! I still need to wash the windows well and repair / replace one screen before they're USEABLE, but I'm so much closer than before. I left the big heavy storms leaning against the house and this morning two of the six were face down in the yard. Yikes! Fortunately that side of the house is spongy moss instead of grass, and they didn't break. So I carried all 6, one at a time, way around the house and then down into the basement today. It was a lot of work!

4.) Um ... Oh, I ordered a 2nd squirrel spinner, so i can protect the suet and the seed both. There's plenty of seed on the ground for the squirrels. I don't mind squirrels, I like the cute black ones, but they sure are gluttons that drain the seed so the birds don't get much. But I haven't received my 2nd spinner yet, I'm still waiting.

What else? I'm sure there was more I was going to tell you in my long absence where I was just blogging in my head. But now it's a blank.

Do you read The Grand Lunar's blog? He made me laugh this morning.

Well, I guess it's time for my nap. You didn't expect me to stay awake all DAY, did you?

Feels Like Spring

It's a gorgeous, sunny 74 degrees here right now.

Highlights of today:

(there's two more squill pix on my Flickr if youjust can't get enough squill pix)

... and the first picnic of the year:

A Day at the Nature Center

Today, in anticipation of mid fifties and sunshine, I decided we'd go to the local Nature Center for school.

Not only did we get to cash in on the field trip groups, by sneaking into the sugar house between BIG groups, we got a small private explanation of the syrup evaporation and we also got to wander and do our own things. The best of both worlds.

Here's the 1870's Sugarhouse:

And inside, learning about the evaporation process:

We also saw both the modern metal collection buckets, and the recreation of the Native American methods with a wood spigot (they have some other name, though ... I can't recall at the moment) and birch bark collection bucket.

We walked along the river trail to get to the Sugar House, which at one point was literally both river and trail. Fortunately it was right near a path to the road, and we circumvented the underwater part.

We also took notebooks, in which the children wrote down the things they saw, sketched pictures, and took notes.

Even Buzz got in on the notebook action:

Whooops! I almost forgot my favorite picture from the day ~ a lucky shot macro of a teeny tiny spider. It was only 3-4 mm and I wasn't even sure it WAS a spider until it moved! I spent the latter part of the afternoon trying to identify him.

If you click on his photo, it'll take you to my flickr photostream, which have a few more nature-y pictures of our trip today (I didn't want to overwhelm my dialup friends), if you like that stuff.

All in all, it was a very nice day.

First Day of Squill!

I know yesterday I posted shoots and said it would be awhile before we saw blooms.

I was wrong!

Hooray! This is one case where I'm thrilled to be wrong.

Here's a squill budding even as it pushes up through the dirt, And another bud raised up and ready to open tomorrow:

Click on either image if you'd like to go to my flickr photostream and see those larger.

I actually saw one bloom open, but I couldn't get a good picture of it in the fading daylight.

I believe this is almost week earlier than last year, where my first glimpse of buds was on March 28.

Michelle from Scribbit asked what squill is - I apologize for not naming it aright. Scilla siberica is it's proper name, also known as Siberian Squill, a tiny member of the lily family.

More importantly (to me), it's my favorite plant ever. I'm so happy to see it blooming. I can't wait a few weeks until it's blooming in oceans in my yard.

My Own Personal Spring Joy

The one thing that tells me Spring is really coming is my squill.

They're not blooming yet -- usually that's mid-April. But look, they've popped up! And I found them in a rare splash of sun, even!

It looks like all the rain has unearthed some of their tiny bulbs, but they're popping up in their little ocean patches. The ones under the bird feeder don't look too choked out by the discarded birdseed and squirrel diggings.

Anyway, it's not a flower, blooming, yet ... but it's a start.

Maybe, just maybe, I can relax my winter guard and start hoping for Spring to stay.

The Cat Sat on the Mat

That stray cat I mentioned last week is still hanging around.

I contacted the county animal control today, via email, since their office was already closed. The cat doesn't show up during normal business hours. Apparently county animal control is the local lost pet / pet shelter center. Their website was particularly UNhelpful. It said on one page to fill out a "lost pet" report if there's one near you, but there was no link to fill out the form electronically. And I found that site through google, not through trying to navigate their site.

I get frustrated trying to do the nice thing and report the cat as 'found' and not really having a good mechanism to do so.

I tried to check the local classifieds for a lost cat blurb, too, but they just refer you - with a broken link, no less - to the county animal control.

So ... the cat is hanging out on our slide. Apparently our yard and children are giving off stray cat friendly vibes. Against my explicit "no vibes" edict.

Then again, maybe the cat isn't really a stray. Maybe it's a new indoor/outdoor pet belonging to someone nearby and is just trying to cash in on friendly neighborhood children, hoping to establish a feeding route. It's not getting fed here. Sorry.

This is why I'm not a big fan of indoor/outdoor cats. After seeing one neighbor's cat attack and carry off our little baby yard bunnies, and another one eat the neighbor's baby yard bunnies, and then having this cat out there trying to slip into the house discreetly, I'm just not a big fan of cats running free in the neighborhood.

So hopefully animal control will say they know just who is looking for this cat, and it will go home to it's real home to stay. A happy ending for all.

Waiting for the Squirrel to Barf

So a week or two ago The Grand Lunar sent me an amusing YouTube video of a Twirl-A-Squirrel.

I went on a hunt to see if it was an actual, purchasable product. And, in the end, found the best price from Amazon! (Although, oddly enough, the Amazon Store through which I purchased it is not currently listed as one of the sellers. Maybe I bought their last one?) And so I bought one.

It arrived on Monday and we promptly, and excitedly, installed it.

We've been watching out the window for two days straight, now.

But the feeder I have hangs from a cable, and the squirrels seem to have been daunted by the stretch from the bell to the feeder. Although that didn't stop them before, maybe the bell is just the right shape & size to make it hard. So instead of trying to climb down onto the feeder, and being spun for our amusement, they are using the pole and bell above the feeder as a launching pad to get to the suet feeder.

If I move the spinner to the suet, it will leave the bigger feeder unprotected again. But if I don't, we might never get to see a dizzy squirrel.

I might just order another spinner. Only I'd really like to see it work, first.

What to do? What to do?

Choir Concert and the Sock

I finished the first sock!

As I was nearing the end I tried it on ~ I will spare you the pictures of my unattractive naked toes sticking out the end, through the needles. It was scary.

But the fact was, the sock was nice, and I *could* get it on, but it was stretched unhappily wide. I realized that, while I could continue knitting to make it *long* enough in the foot to fit my feet, that I would never *love* my first knit pair of socks (assuming there's ever a *pair*) ...

The pattern I used only started with 40 stitches, and my yarn, although labeled worsted weight, seems to be thinner than average, and my needles were slightly smaller than the ones listed ... and yeah, yeah, maybe I should've done a swatch for the gauge. Live and learn. Truth be told, I've never knit a swatch and aren't really sure how to measure and count or how that little doo-dad thing comes in .... I bought one, am I supposed to somehow use it?

And so, anyway, I decided to stop, make the toe decreases, and give it to Eminoodle, whose foot was more it's size.

So here is the finished sock:

And here is my covered-for-your-sake-toes inside the sock, which I could still squeeze my foot unattractively into, so you can see how it was too over-stretched even though I could get it on, so you can agree it was best to give it to Eminoodle.

Here it is on her lovely, petite foot:

What do you think of my first sock? Is it a good first sock? Does the heel turn fall in the right place, or was it supposed to not go around the corner but be AT the corner? The pattern said to make the heel flap 2.5 inches, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to stop at the sole of the foot, or supposed to round the corner with it's reinforced stitches. But the actual "turn" of the heel comes past where both my heel and Em's heel turns.

Does my knitting look terribly uneven? I think my sock looks fairly lumpy and uneven. Maybe I don't like the fact that it's fairly fat yarn/stitches, compared to tidy store socks with tiny thread, I guess. So I can't tell if it's good.

Here is Iliacat's first non-baby sock, which looks to be a more reasonable size than mine was. Hers is 60 stitches and I think it's sock weight or baby weight yarn or something. I don't know. She started it last Thursday, isn't she amazing?

And here's one pic from the choir concert. I guess The Grand Lunar shot some video of me leading the Bible Verses part, but I didn't digitize that for you. But he did, so now it's a link to his blog, go check it out, LOL.

I must confess, I'm glad choir's done for the year. I have to decide whether I'll help again in the fall or not. I really enjoyed teaching the Bible Verse part. We did motions to help remember it, and it was fun to see all the children recite long passages (Psalm 24 and Psalm 8) with the motions. But only a little of it was *real* sign language, and I'm wondering if it would be better to do it with REAL sign language, instead of just made up motions to jog memory.

Anyway, that concludes my partial report of Sunday Afternoon And Evening.

Being SuperWoman is Easy!

... if you redefine SuperWoman with really low standards, that is.

for example:

SuperWoman remembers that it is trash day before the trash comes, and gets it out on time.

SuperWoman goes to the extra effort* to get the basement trash, which is a daring process of picking up discarded dryer lint which should've been thrown into the trash can, but has instead rolled off the top of the overfilled heap, to cover the floor and make excellent imaginary hiding places for millions of mice, of which superwoman is deathly afraid and yet courageously perseveres. (Although now her nose is full of lint and she keeps sneezing.)

SuperWoman manages to blog - even before showering and dressing! Amazing!

And, beyond that, SuperWoman plans to exercise.

See? I've given you the tools you need to not only be SuperWoman today, but to far surpass my example.

Because you probably didn't take the trash out in your jammies (cute though they may be), nor are you still sitting in your jammies thinking about exercising while also noting that it's getting very late and you should really be starting your day. And maybe you've already eaten breakfast - bonus points for healthy - and showered and are started with your schooling, with a load of laundry in the washer and if you're Kerri one already in the dryer, too, because you've been up since some pre-dawn hour that I only squint at on my clock.

So, now that I think about it, you probably don't need my SuperWoman tips at all.

But they made me feel Super this morning.

Because I have nice low standards for Super.

Oh, and Karen asked about the skating anxiety. Yes, I found it much less stressful if I just knitted and didn't watch. Knitting takes enough of my attention that I never saw the crashes coming, and didn't watch the speedy big guys at all.

Someone else (who was it?) recently asked what T'Mahk means. Let me refer you to this ancient entry: The Origin of T'Mahk and hope it enlightens you. Because it's so old I barely remember it, and didn't actually read it to see if it answers the question. Because, after all, I'm the New SuperWoman, with extra low expectations for myself.

Oh, wait!!!!!! You didn't click that ancient entry, did you? Don't do it!!! It doesn't actually say anything. What a surprise! But I found this one, that did say something. So read this one instead: My Entry Rambling About My Blog Name, which you'll note is actually sort of hanging hybrid, since I changed some things but left the title as T'Mahk and never really finished deciding anything.

Oh, and we have an inch of snow today. It's just lucky it's the pretty foofy sticky-to-the-branches kind, or it would be unacceptable. Yes, yes, I know that I should expect this of Michigan. To get nice and stay nice without ups and downs would be very Not-Michigan. But still, I can't help but resent it snowing again when I had, indeed, gotten my hopes up that Spring would ever actually come. Yesterday after Em and Tobi-Wan's choir concert (oh, now THAT would be something REAL to blog about! Silly me, with the nonsense blog entry) we heard peepers in the field North of the church. Which made me think it was really Spring. But today I'm remembering the awful year that we went to the Nature Center and the pond was full of bloated and decaying pollywogs (also known as tadpoles) because they'd also been fooled by the weather into thinking it was Spring, daring to try to grow legs, when a hard freeze knocked them all off. And, of course, frogs don't bury their dead, so the pond was exceedingly creepy that year.

On that lovely note, I'll go exercise, and pretend I should've set the clocks back two ours and it's really only 7:23.

*I imagine SuperDuperWoman actually empties her dryer lint trash regularly, and it never overflows into creepy potential-mouse-homes.

I didn't blog today?

I thought for sure I did.

Until I followed a link from one of the Grand Lunar's Many Fake-or-temporary blogs to my blog. Where I was quite confused to see a picture of a newborn. I haven't had one of those in almost 2 years, so I thought it was an old post. LOL. Silly me.

But I guess it was old, since I posted it yesterday.

I thought I'd blogged today. I guess it was in my head again. I think it was about attending an International Speed Skating competition (to see our neighbor skate) ... a local teacher sang the US National Anthem and the Canadian National Anthem. I don't know that I'd ever heard the words to the Canadian National Anthem before, and I thought it was very nice. Maybe it's just the hormones, but it all made me a little teary.

I knit while I watched the skating. Worked on the sock. Still not done.

In the afternoon our student-friend from Sri Lanka called to see if I was going to the International Student Friends Potluck. I wasn't planning to go, but I decided to go, to see her and meet her friend. I'm so glad we went. It was really nice to catch up with her, and she brought me some beautiful flower candles from her mom. They are shaped like temple flowers, which are the national flower of Sri Lanka!

Her mom is coming back next month, so I'm looking forward to seeing her again, and hopefully having all our Sri Lankan friends over for dinner and/or dessert once or twice before they graduate. It will be sad to have them go. But nice to know I have a standing invitation to visit Sri Lanka! I guess I should start saving up, huh?

I sent my leftovers home with her to feed another of our students, who wasn't able to come because he was working. He told her to bring him some food back. So she did.

Anyway. Right now I'm blogging instead of exercising. It's actually 10:44 pm which is pretty late to exercise, but I skipped yesterday. I can't afford to start getting sloppy now. So ... I'll do it, late. It's not like I go to bed early, anyway. I really should, but I don't. And it's not like exercising late will keep me awake. Ha ha! There's nothing that can keep me awake! Nothing, I say!!

Can it be Four, already?

Four years ago today I'd been up most of the night.

Giving birth.

But by early morning the hard work was over and we had a sweet new baby boy.

How do they grow so fast?

When did my baby grow to be such a big boy?

For his birthday breakfast I made a yogurt-chocolate chip breakfast cake.

On fancy plates. :-)

It was quite good!

Not super healthy, but not too bad.

Birthday Yogurt Breakfast Cake

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas
2 cups non-fat yogurt
2 large eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 scant cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Spray 9x13 inch pan or line with a Silpat liner (recently on sale at Meijer for the 9x13 pan size!).

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Blend banana, yogurt, egg replacer, and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm or cool completely before serving.

Happy Birthday, Little D!!!

Even If You Don't Like Lentils Easy Lentil Soup

So you don't like lentils.

I didn't think I did, either.

For one thing, I was buying those sludgy olive gray ones. Ew. Plus, I have tasted a few misguided attempts at lentils-as-meat-replacement. There are many reasons to think you hate lentils.

May I encourage you to try them again? Just one more time. If you still hate them, you may officially say you hate them.

First, skip the sludgy gray green ones. Buy some "red" lentils. I find them in the international section at Meijer. They're a light reddish-orange color.

Second, don't try to make a lentil loaf. And if you don't like international food, don't go overboard on the international flavors. Our friends from Sri Lanka made us some excellent spicy dahl (which happens to mean "lentil" I believe) and I've even made some myself, but it's okay to tone it down. The Grand Lunar isn't fond of middle eastern and Indian flavors, but even he liked this soup.

Ready? Don't be scared. It's easy and good, and not too strong on the eastern flavors.

Even If You Don't Like Lentils Easy Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 cup rice ~ you can use white rice or brown rice
6 cups water
2-4 cloves garlic, or garlic powder to taste
~1/2 cup chopped onions. I've used both sliced green onions and dried onion flakes with success
1/2 tsp. cumin - this is a very tiny amount
1/4 tsp. turmeric - this is even smaller, but makes it such a pretty yellow
1/4 tsp. paprika - again, very little
2 T. chicken bullion (equivalent to making 6 cups of stock)

that's it. bring to a boil and simmer ~20 minutes OR let it sit in the crockpot for 2-3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. It seems to be pretty flexible. If you do it on the stove, you may need to add a little more water as it cooks.

The lentils don't hold together in their lentil shape, they sort of become one with the soup, making it thick. The taste is like a very mild curry, but it's so mild you should try it even if you don't like curry. Seriously. And if you DO like curry, go ahead and add a lot more of the spices, to taste. Add some hot pepper flakes if you like it hot. But you don't have to, it's simple and good just the way it's written.

Oh, and in other news, here's how far I am in the first sock.

You can see I completed the heel flap, the heel gusset decreases, and am working on the "foot" part heading towards the toe. I only hope it fits me, and not someone else, when I'm done. But that sounds kind of selfish.

I guess I might survive

it's only supposed to get up to 35 today.

I guess it's good that it's still above freezing. It's supposed to get down below freezing at night this coming week, but the days are all supposed to be above freezing. My mom reminded me that makes for good maple syrup weather.

Not that we tap our trees or have any personal interest in syrup weather.

But I really liked the 60 and sunny day. It sure was nice.

Of course, Spring only reminds me of my lack of planning and know-how in the gardening realm. While everyone else is getting excited about seeds and seedlings and transplants, I'm half frustrated and half-glad that I didn't order my plants last fall and that my spring order is going to fall through.

Did I tell you about that? I heard of a deal ~ $25 off a $25 order ~ this past fall. I was excited. And daunted, I stress out a fair amount about what to get for where and whether I'll just kill it in the end. But I finally picked some things and was relieved, except that I didn't really write down where I thought I would plant them, so I knew I'd just have to re-figure all that out when they arrived in Spring. Now I'm always a little nervous ordering when I hear about a deal, thinking maybe the deal is one-code-per-customer and I'll spend all the effort (which is not minimal, for me) to pick what to order, and then be crushed at the checkout that the code isn't valid for me. But it was.

Until this Spring. When I got an email saying the company reviewed their orders and codes and that the code I used wasn't assigned to me. Months after the order went through.

So, bummer. They did offer $25 off of $50, which is nice. And I'm sure they only checked because they were freaking out about possibly hundreds or thousands of nearly-free orders ... the problem is, I'm not up for *re*picking *twice* as many plants as I'd picked before. $50 worth of product is a lot for a plant killer.

So I guess I'll just let the order drop and get nothing. Which is sad because later I'll be sorry I didn't order anything.

I would love to have a beautiful garden of flowers. I think it would be neat to have a successful vegetable patch. It's not that I feel I should, it's that I really think it would be neat. Only I'm not only bad with plants, but also lazy, which usually makes for a lethal combination.

Last year we had that nice young man help us whack out our weeds and cover things with weed barrier and mulch. The good news is that it looked good for the rest of the summer. The bad news is that there are weeds and plants poking through the weed barrier. Which might be good, if the plants I *like* pop through. But what if it's just the weeds? I covered up some daffodils and things, because late summer it was too late to remember exactly where they were, and the weeds needed some *major* control (think of them being neglected for 5 years that we've been here and countless years before that) .... so anyway, I'm not sure I'll have much at all coming up this year.

My idea was that I would be pretty vigilant about weed control for now, and plant thoughtfully in the future.

But now that it's Spring, my guess is that I'll neglect the weeds, and not figure out what to plant, and will continue to be sad that I don't have a lovely garden that comes naturally to me. Because I really don't have the knack for it, I don't think.

My sister is cool, she's bold and daring and remembers things. So she tries things out, and has success with some, and moves other things around, and it's neat. But I am both more timid and less hard working and forget everything, so it just doesn't really pan out in the gardening area for me. I think the biggest problem is that I want to only do it once, to have a good, smart plan and have it work smoothly, progressively, not have to re-do things that didn't turn out like I thought.

Boy, I guess I should quit whining about gardening. It sure made for a very long post! I didn't mean to whine about gardening. I only meant to whine about the weather a little.

Apparently they're somehow, mysteriously, related.

very random but verbose babbles

1.) yesterday there was a cat in our yard. Doesn't look like a stray. It's a young male cat, maybe a year or two old. We had a male cat who was fixed when he was a baby. So he didn't look very male cat-ish. But this one does, and the kids said, "what's wrong with its rear?" because it didn't look like the one we had. Ha ha, I'm glad the Grand Lunar was the one out there to field that question. He handled it smoothly. He's good. So anyway, the cat didn't leave. It hung around all evening while I was hacking up our lawn into deep channels to try to drain the sidewalk oceans. Which of course didn't work, but maybe added some landscaping interest? When I tried to come in, the cat walked right at my feet and tried to come in. Cats can be very slithery and fast, but I already knew that so he didn't sneak in. I was on to him. This morning I told the Grand Lunar about it, and he was surprised the cat had hung out so long. And then guess who greeted him on the way to the garage?

Don't try to tell me the cat's come to us, to take Mogh's place. He hasn't. The kids said they saw a van calling for the cat. We are not getting another cat. Especially a growing up boy cat. No way.

2.) Did you know that Mauritius and Mauritania are not the same? Not only did I not know they were not the same, I didn't know there was a Mauritius. I was putting a little fancy brown sugar in my oat bran and saw that it was from Mauritius. I was excited, because I've been reading a blog whose writer lives in Mauritania. I assumed they were just different spellings, one in English and one in ... Mauritanian. You know, like "Germany" and "Deutschland" ... But I was smart and looked it up before I made some stupid comment on her blog, which would've been especially embarrassing since I mostly just lurk and don't really know her, so I would've felt even dorkier than usual when coming out of lurkdome to say something incorrect. Because Mauritania is a country in *West* Africa, in the Sahara desert, that used to belong to France. Which I mostly knew, because I really do pay attention when I read blogs. Well, sometimes. Don't quiz me on your blog. Even if I pay attention, I also have a leaky brain. Many things just wash right back out. But Mauritius turns out to be an Island nation near Madagascar, in the Indian ocean, and was formerly a British colony. And French and Dutch before that. So my sugar comes from there, not from Mauritania, which makes sense anyway since I wasn't really sure how they were farming sugar in the desert. I don't know much about agriculture, but that one just didn't seem right. So you learn something new every day. Or at least every month or so.

3.) at the gardens yesterday we saw a place where they'd chopped up and tilled under broccoli. In big chunks. I guess those chunks just root and grow, we saw little broccolis poking up through the dirt. And some of the ornamental cabbages were looking like they were going to just pick up growing where they'd left off after being buried in snow and ice for months, their middle leaves were fresh and crisp. But their outer leaves were wilted and stunk like old cooked cabbage, and we exited that fragrant area quickly.

4.) Every morning I go to the back bathroom, off the back room, to take my shower. And it's always cold back there. So I turn up the heat a little first. And the furnace is right below the back room, and the back bathroom is small and enclosed, and so it heats up pretty fast. And by the time I'm done with my shower I'm always roasting and exhausted and feel like I can't breathe from the heat. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but still.

5.) Last night I did a prenatal yoga DVD. And the whole time I was doing it, my brain was saying, "this is so corny" ~ the lady even pronounced "exhale" as "ehks - ssale" and it was weird. So I figured I probably undermined any psychological benefit because my brain was working so hard trying to squelch my corny alerts.

6.) I'm late for school and late for inspecting jobs, but I can't find my inspection report page, someone misplaced it. I know who, but I won't name names. But it wasn't me. I'm going to re-interpret my instructions given yesterday on where said child should've put it to see if I can guess what (he or she) thought I meant. But I really don't want to do school and work today. I want to curl up in a ball and finish knitting my sock before all my children have grown too big for it.

Butterfly Day

It was a gorgeous day today. The temperature was in the mid 60's, the sun was shining, the snow was melting. And the Butterflies In Bloom exhibit opened yesterday. So after lunch we went with Moogie to visit them.

Here are some pictures of the children enjoying the day. If you want to see the butterflies, you'll have to visit my Flickr pics, I didn't want to overwhelm you with pictures, here. (Poor dial-up friends)

For Rosanne, here's the picture I took while thinking of you. This is my muddy shoe and the hole I punched through the snow into gooshy mud. I was fortunate not to lose my shoe and plunge a socked foot into more mud.

Buzz, not so sure about the butterflies:

Gark thought it was a bit bright:

Looking down on three from a bridge:

Two on a pig:

All six lined up on the way in:

LittleD riding through our sidewalk puddles:

And LittleD (again) on one of the bridges at the garden:

One Bookshelf Short

That's the story of my life.

I'm always one bookshelf short.

It doesn't matter how many books or shelves I have.

There's always a little more than I can squeeze in. So I'm always squeezing. Books sideways, or in front of each other, or "temporarily" stashed somewhere else.

It makes organizing (not that I'm capable of it, really) very difficult because there's no extra space to shift things into. Except to make piles. I'm pretty good at making piles. Terrible at dealing with them once they're made.

You know those puzzles where you scoot the squares around to unscramble a picture? And there's only one blank square to scoot into? Organizing is like that, for me. Except that instead of one blank square to scoot, I've got one EXTRA tile, and nowhere to scoot.

Why Why WHY??!

I'm trying to clean out my armoire-desk.

Trust me, it's horrifying.

Why, why WHY is it so hard for me?

Why must I accumulate piles of badly-stacked junk, and then feel tortured to go through them?

Why is only half the stuff being thrown out and the rest being stacked in several sprawling piles to keep?

Auuuugggghhhhhhhhhhh

Is it just me?

Is anyone else buried in piles of supplies of things that will make your life easier?

I've been planning to make chore charts. I can't tell you how many iterations of chore chart styles I've attempted. They usually work for a little while. Currently I have a bedroom inspection checklist I use which is working pretty well.

But I wanted to make something for around-the-house chores, using a card-and-pocket system. So that I could rotate the chores without re-printing (which, for me, usually entails redoing from scratch) ... something that could list the expectations, and be moved from one pocket to another when done.

A long time ago I requisitioned supplies from The Grand Lunar on an office supply run or general WalMart trip. Being the sweet and helpful man he is, he procured my requested supplies. Which I stored with all the other supplies from past chore chart attempts, like dry erase markers, magnetized white boards, multi-colored sharpies, and too-slippery-to-write-on laminated pages.

Today, I'm working again, or still, on the chore chart pocket idea. But the poster board I have isn't full size. I can't remember if that's because I had some clever idea for smaller ones? One per child? And I have no idea where I put the multi-colored index cards. To find them will entail, I believe, an entire clean-out of the 'school supply armoire' ~ a task that makes my heart sink.

I really shouldn't be entrusted with *stuff* to store. I always put it somewhere "safe" thinking I'll remember where. And it gets buried in other stuff I'm setting aside "for later" in a disorganized and frightening fashion.

So now I'm stumped because I have made a chore chart plan, and I have all of the supplies, but some of them aren't what I thought I needed, anymore, and other pieces are lost.

Maybe I'd be better off dreaming up a new system.

With two one cat in the yard

This week's vet visit confirmed that Mogh was dying and there wasn't much to be done. He had a lot of fluid in his chest and was having a lot of trouble breathing, which was why he's been so weak, having to rest after walking halfway across a room. She said the fluid on the lungs was something that could've come up relatively quickly. And why he's seemed to get worse rapidly.

We took some time to say good-byes.

This picture is from January, when he was old but still healthy.

But I didn't DO anything

You'll never guess what happened.

My back did that thing again.

It was fine yesterday - in fact, so fine that I was thinking, "Wow, it's really fine!"

And then, on the way to the vet, I realized it was tight and hurt in that spot, again. That spot that felt fine an hour before, a day before, etc. As the evening progressed it got worse and worse.

It's not horrible this morning, I can move around and function, but it's far from fine.

It's not like it's hurt this whole time, a little, and got worse. It was better! Really and truly better! And now it's not, again.

So I don't know what's going on. Maybe I'm just getting old.

In other news, I hate the time change. Ugh. I don't want to do it. What happens if we just don't comply? Will we end up in an alternate universe where time and daylight progress at a steady rate? Would that be so bad?

Bring On The Mud

My good friend Rosanne said, yesterday, that she would rather have snow and ice than mud.

Oh, no. Not me. Give me the mud, any day.

Why? Because it means it's melting.

I like winter, when it first begins. But oh, do I love the Spring when things begin to melt.

Even before the first sprouts peek up, fighting their way through mulch and mud, just the sound of dripping water, and knowing that Spring really is, finally, coming, is all I need. Although the sprouts are good to see.

I am kicking myself for not planting the winter aconite I promised myself last Spring I'd plant. This fall, Kim, even if it threatens to kill you, order and plant some winter aconite. And snowdrops. And glory of the snow. Trust me on this, Kim. It will be worth the effort, come next Spring.

But you'll be pleased to hear that 40 degrees and melting was enough to actually get me outside today. Yes, I am not kidding. Me. Outside. And not just to get to the car. I stood in the snow and saw the sun. Really. Here's proof:

Of course, the children went out, too. They sledded, stomped, knocked down fort walls, climbed, swung, and painted the fort with pine branches dipped in puddles. It doesn't get much better than that.

Here's Buzz discussing shoveling, and Little D scaling the fort wall:

Here's Em and Ilia braving the Sled Ramp:

And Tobi-Wan on a big snowball:

And last, but not least, a picture I shall title: Gark: Self-Portrait with Runny Nose

Oh, and if you like the sprout and icicle pix, there's a few more of those at my Flickr space. Click those words, or one of the pix, or even the little badge to your left. There's so many roads that lead to my Flickr.

Random Snippets of a Real Post

I haven't forgotten about blogging the Lies Homeschooling Moms believe. It's just that I see no way around that blogging event including lots of tears and tissues and being an incredibly lengthy post, so I am hiding from it. But here's a short snippet of what I would say, if I could say it without crying.

Some of the lies, like "Everyone else's house is cleaner than mine" I believe but also recognize that they probably aren't the most important thing. I know my house will never be as clean as (insert all the names of all my IRL friends here, and at least most of my internet imaginary ;-) friends) but I also know that, usually, my house is probably "clean enough" and that there are more important things. But then again, teaching my children HOW to keep a clean house is important to me, I consider it part of teaching responsibility, so not keeping a clean house IS important.

But the biggest lie (I keep typing "like" instead of lie) that I know I believe is "I'm failing my children." ... or maybe it was "I'm the only one" but I don't know if that part is important. His quick answer was "no, you're not, God knew the perfect parents for your child, etc, etc" but ... I don't know. I think there are Biblical examples, even, of parents who dropped the ball. Was it Eli who did okay by Samuel as a sort of foster son, but really bombed with his own children? I guess I should look all that up, but anyway this is just the random snippets post, not the real post.

He talked about not getting frustrated that your children are different, because God chooses what kind of "seed" they are and you can't try to turn a pumpkin into a sunflower, they will grow the way God made them. But ... when I've gardened, I've produced a lot of failing tomato plants (like last year's one green bug eaten tomato as the career max for my pathetic little plant) and I've also rotted a lot of seeds in their pots. And I guess that's how I often see myself as a parent. I might be functioning okay in some areas, but I'm afraid I'm leaving them to rot in poor soil in many important areas.

So there, i'll stop there before it gets deeper or makes me cry.

In other random snippets. Um ... I'm sure I had other things to say.

I'm taking the cat to the vet on Friday. I guess that's tomorrow, huh? I'm suspecting we'll have the weekend to say goodbye, and then take him back on Monday, but that's just my "I'm not a vet, but I play one in my head" expectations. Maybe they'll tell us he's not in any pain, and he can just die of old age here.

I'm still struggling to stay on track on the healthy eating. If it were disputable things that aren't on MY program, but other people think are healthy, that I was craving, I'd be okay with that. But it's really the junk that I want. And no one really advocates caving in to junk. Each day I think I've figured it out, I'll just eat the healthy cereal I like, whenever I don't feel well but should eat ... and then that won't sound good either. So ... I'm still struggling.

I did order some pregnancy strengthen-and-stretch videos. I have this crazy idea that I'll work hard and eat well and be lean and toned in 7+ more months. Oh well, just humor me on that.

Oh I remember the other thing I was going to post about. Only it isn't really light either, so I'll just skim over it and get back to it some other day.

I've been thinking about Joy.

You know how "love" can mean both a gooshy emotion and/or a choice in how to act? So it's possible to feel love, but it's also possible to have love but not feel it at the time? Like when your not quite 2 year old has colored all over the walls again, and how he's willing to enthusiastically help wash them with Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, and you're just pooped and not really feeling warm and gooshy about his earnest help.

So, for me, anyway, that's how joy is. I have the technical joy of knowing that God is in control and that I want my life to glorify Him, and that He will glorify Himself through a life given to Him. But I don't really FEEL that joy. I don't feel joyful about all the things I want to feel joyful about. I thought about it yesterday and realized that the *emotion* of happy happy joy joy is really missing from my repertoire right now. And you know, I don't mind living in the Truth, as much as I can (and it's not always easy, since I know I do tend to believe lies) ... but I'd really like to FEEL it.

So.

Oh, yeah, and Scribbit is having a writing contest, and I keep thinking about entering, only I can't think of anything to write about. I'm sure there's stuff there, in my head, but ... so far I haven't hit on anything that I've written or might write that would be any good. And then, kind of as an amusing-to-me side note, I read a few other bloggers who are considering taking their writing to a "more serious" level and you know, I just don't feel that drive. I used to want to be an author, but I don't really have any desire, right now, to take my writing more seriously. So maybe that's a hint that I should just not worry about the contest, or anything else. There are so many wonderful writers and bloggers out there. And that's good. But I think it also reminds me that, while I like to ramble, I probably am not cut out to be a writer. Maybe, even, I should get back to work on the housework and schooling and stuff. (And the would-be-maybe-writer in me notes that "stuff" is an exceedingly dumb word to use. But it also perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards all the stuff I need to do. And, as an even more useless side note, on the back roads we used to take to Lansing there was a house with a sign in the yard that said "Rocks and Old Stuf" - which we used to drive past and pronounce "Rocks and Old Stoooof" - so when I'm thinking about all the stuff I should be doing, it's not actually stuff, but Old Stoooof that I'm thinking of.)

How's that for some random bits of deeper thoughts?

it must be aliens

there is a weird glow, a bright light, coming from outside.

even though I'm safe inside, the glow is bright enough to make me squint a little.

I can see it coming into the house, through the windows, making the inside of the house glow in an eerie way.

I don't know what to make of it.

More Fluff

I'm so glad you are all content with fluff posts and promises of the RSS feed to my brain. I fear there's nothing deeper coming, despite potential in there, somewhere.

Like, right now, I'm simply procrastinating on making dinner. I should just do it, thinking about it is usually worse than actually doing it. But I went to Meijer to do some grocery shopping and it was so bright and busy and everything smelled. Not bad, mind you, except the bottle return. But the bananas smelled so banana-y and the bread smelled so bready and I could smell the gummi worms in the bulk section as I walked past and it was just too much.

Then, on an expensive whim, I bought a little container of goji berries in the produce department. They were with the dried cherries and yogurt covered dried cherries (which sounded really good, until I bought and ate them, then they were an awful idea) ... and they're so small and such an interesting color, (I'm back to the dried goji if you're having trouble following along) so I bought them.

Got them home so pleased with my cleverness to buy a totally unknown foreign dried fruit.

Boy, I thought they were awful.

Then we read about them online, and wow, they're supposed to be a super food. Eat a handful, live forever, sort of super fruit. Well, not quite that good, but still, super. Except mine? Ick. Maybe it's because mine say "product of china" and the web tells me the best come from Tibet. I don't know. Anyway, now I need to redeem them somehow. They're supposedly good for "morning" sickness, which really should be renamed "please don't think about making dinner" sickness.

Blogging in my Head

Today I blogged several excellent entries in my head.

It started out this morning, with an insightful day-in-the-life post. I mentally took pictures of my 7 year old, sick and asleep under a blanket on the couch, the innovative block-and-chair game that Little D and Buzz were playing, and so forth. I mentally blogged about school and lunch before I forgot. I did not mentally take pictures of the heaps of laundry in my room, because you would be afraid of someone getting buried.

Then, later, I also blogged about the Lies Homeschooling Moms believe, and which ones I believe, and why.

Now I'm on my way out to take Tobi-Wan on his date out, and I'll be sure to blog about it, in my head. Because I wouldn't want you to miss a moment of this great mental blogging. Trust me, it's even better in my head.

Lies, Lies, Lies, yeah ...

We had a local homeschooling conference yesterday. Just for the day, 9-3. That was a nice little time slot for a conference. It's the first local one, and that was neat.

The Keynote speaker was Todd Wilson from Familyman Ministries. Although I'd heard of him, seen some comics, and knew he had some books, I had no idea he was so funny. It was like a homeschool keynote and a stand up comedian (a good one!) rolled into one.

His first talk was about Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe. I sort of cried through that one. Not that it wasn't funny. It was. But it also really hit home. Of the lies he listed, I found one or two that I was willing to admit, with him, were lies. The rest? Apparently I totally believe them. Not for you, I'd tell you they were lies. But I think they're true about me. I don't have time to psychoanalyze all that right now, plus I'd just cry again. But I did get the book, so I can keep thinking about these supposed lies and take them before the Lord. I do know that's what you're supposed to do if you find you believe a lie.

Or many.

Anyway, it was a great little conference, and not only did I enjoy the 4 talks I heard, and learned something in each, I also stayed awake, without caffeine, for the whole thing. Which is nothing short of a miracle; I'm sure you know that about me by now.

Now the challenge is to see if I can do the same thing at church* this morning. Staying awake two whole days in a row? I'm not sure I'll make it. It's a tough life, I lead.

*This bears no reflection on the quality of church, mind you. We have dynamic worship and excellent, challenging messages. It is simply a reflection of my chronic sleep deprivation.

I'm a bad blogger

sorry I haven't had any witty, clever entries lately. Ever? Well, since the lint one, anyway.

Really, the last few days, most of what goes through my head is whining.

It's like this. I really wanted to eat healthy. Stick to the program. Eat plenty, but of healthy foods.

But guess what? I feel ucky and none of them sound good. Even the ones I like, like the cabbage salad, don't sound good. I made a salad for The Grand Lunar and it had this overwhelming smell of *cut vegetation* ... and I didn't want any.

Someone asked me if I have other symptoms besides being "picky about food" ... and I felt so sad. Picky about food? That sounds so juvenile and ... overcome-able. Why can't I overcome it? I sit around large portions of the day feeling both guilty for not eating, a little hungry, a little oogy, and just *blank* when it comes to what to eat. It goes beyond not sounding good to just not being able to make myself make something. In the end I've been eating stupid things that aren't way off program, but aren't really good choices, either, like buttered noodles or leftover ramen noodles from the kids' lunches. Then I feel bad because it isn't how I wanted to eat. Maybe "just do it" is the answer, regardless of what I think I want. But I don't know how to get over the hump of just not wanting it.

Blah blah blah! I'm sure there are better things for you to be reading.

In other news, I think my cat is sick. I think I need to take him to the vet. And then I need to decide, do I have them do tests that might be invasive and harmful to him, to determine what he's dying from? Or do I just have them confirm that he's dying. A few weeks ago The Grand Lunar pointed out that the cat seemed skinnier. I wasn't sure at first. But the more I watch him, the more I think GL is right, the cat is slowly slipping away. Last night he was laying on the little shoe mat by the front door, at the top of the basement stairs. Laying there as if coming up the stairs had drained him, and he needed to rest. He hasn't been coming in to sleep on my feet, nor sleeping under the blankets of our bed, this past week. Any one of those things, alone, might not mean much. But with all of them together ... it just doesn't seem he's doing well.

But I don't want to call the vet and set final things in motion.

Nor do I want him to be suffering here. I can't tell if he's suffering. He doesn't seem to be in pain. He just seems sad and tired. Which I can relate to, only I don't think my sad and tired is serious, and my gut tells me that his is.

So ... that's what's up today. Maybe you would've been better off not reading an entry here.

Why not head on over to Treadmarks -- after years of preparation and months of good-byes, this little family has picked up and moved to a far away land. Join them as they settle in. I promise, it's a much better read, on so many levels, than the slop I'm serving here.

Plumb Tuckered Out

Good morning!

I promised you a February Challenge update. I'm sure you're all just hanging on the edges of your seats waiting, as if you had nothing better to do. But oh well.

So since Feb 1 I walked 89 "miles" (this means I did 89 15+ minute intervals of aerobic exercise, 45 minutes (3 miles) most days) .... making for my highest month ever, and bringing me to 167 for the year.

I took my measurements Feb 1 and today, but I can't find where I wrote down Feb 1's, so I've got nothing to compare to. Lame! But I lost 8 lbs in February, which of course averages 2 a week, so still a nice rate. Even if in my head it didn't seem so, I kept feeling stalled out. I am not restricting how much I eat, nor eating just insanely low calorie salads, for anyone concerned. I am doing my best to eat good healthy carbs and lots of whole natural foods, and continuing to exercise at a moderate rate into this pregnancy. So I'm not concerned about the loss, I'm glad to know that, at this early stage, the healthy eating is helping.

Anyway, I'll post the inches lost if I can ever find Feb's ... otherwise, on with March.

But I'm tired today. I think it's the weather. The forecast went something like: snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Then snow. Then turning to freezing rain on top of the snow. 2-3 inches of snow, with 1/4" to 1/2" accumulations of ice. Sounds nice, huh? I wonder if they'll cancel Kung Fu, and if they do, will they call us?